Monday, June 06, 2011

Projects Use Phone Data to Track Public Services - NYTimes.com

Boston is developing a system called Street Bump that uses a smartphone’s accelerometer and GPS system to detect when a driver hits a pothole and then sends that information to city officials.

Techniques like this may help cities collect data that until recently would have required expensive network sensors.

“It is unlikely that we are going to be able to invest in that sensor system. But what we’ve recognized is that many, many constituents have already invested in a sensor platform,” said Chris Osgood, co-chairman of the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston, which is responsible for establishing Street Bump.